Yeh i play in the same team as Julian, except he was called up to 2nd grade last weekend. Not sure how he went up there, but from what i heard he will probably be back for our game versus weston creek this weekend. He certainly has become a better bowler in the last 2 seasons.
Ive heard of D'Cruz, but never seen him bowl, so i cant comment on him.

As for Dawson, he has been picked in the Cricket Aus cup side for Tas for next week. he needs to play well to get in front of Clingelffer, but i think he can do it.

I really am truly amazed now I'm getting a decent picture of the cricket system in Australia. The level of organization is phenominal.
Even now The ECB are only coming close to it.
Can someone just confirm - First-Grade Cricket is the lowest level below State Second XIs?

Originally posted by broncoman yes that is correct. of course some grade competitions are much stronger than others. Sydneys is by far the strongest, then Melbournes, then Brisbane and so on.

Adealaide's is pretty weak & Canberra's is a bit behind the rest of the pack.

Richard I've said it before & Im sure you will accuse me of exageratting again but I reckon Sydney first grade cricket is as strong as county cricket , evidenced by the fact that when people like Kevin Pieterson & Andy Strauss play in that league they dont do nearly as well as in the CC , and that Phil Jaques did way better in England than he has in Sydney grade cricket.

Richard I've said it before & Im sure you will accuse me of exageratting again but I reckon Sydney first grade cricket is as strong as county cricket , evidenced by the fact that when people like Kevin Pieterson & Andy Strauss play in that league they dont do nearly as well as in the CC , and that Phil Jaques did way better in England than he has in Sydney grade cricket.

What a load of rubbish! You're comparing apples an oranges. If they had the same number of sides in their competitions with the same spread of weak vs strong sides, you'd see why this is absolute crap. As someone who PLAYED some first-grade Sydney cricket years ago, I have personal experience that although Sydney's grade comps is the strongest comp by far in Australia, to compare it to a competition with the strength and depth of English CC is ludicrous.

Originally posted by iamdavid Adealaide's is pretty weak & Canberra's is a bit behind the rest of the pack.

Richard I've said it before & Im sure you will accuse me of exageratting again but I reckon Sydney first grade cricket is as strong as county cricket , evidenced by the fact that when people like Kevin Pieterson & Andy Strauss play in that league they dont do nearly as well as in the CC , and that Phil Jaques did way better in England than he has in Sydney grade cricket.

Kevin Pietersen played in the Lincs Premier League twice this year and scored 18 & 4 (I think). You're a fool, as stated by Corey.

Originally posted by iamdavid Richard I've said it before & Im sure you will accuse me of exageratting again but I reckon Sydney first grade cricket is as strong as county cricket , evidenced by the fact that when people like Kevin Pieterson & Andy Strauss play in that league they dont do nearly as well as in the CC , and that Phil Jaques did way better in England than he has in Sydney grade cricket.

And I repeat what I said then - Matthew Banes, Graeme Bridge and Kadeer Ali are three who have played in Grade Cricket (Banes I think in Sydney - please correct me if I remember wrong) and excelled. MacGill was a failure in English Club-cricket. It's swings-and-roundabouts.

Telstra Stadium should share shosting ODI's with the SCG. I think that the potental of cricket at a big venue such as Telstra Stadium (around 80,000 capacity) would be great. Not only is it just good from Cricket Australia's perspective, but more fans will have the opportunity to attend an ODI in Sydney as ODI's at the SCG are usually sold out (at a capacity of around 40,000).

I reckon that would be the best way... just keep the Tests at SCG and share the ODIs with Telstra Stadium. They will eventually anyway because all they'll see is $$$$$$$$$$$ KA-CHING!:O

It annoys me in Perth that we only get 1 Test and two VB-series games... but you gotta expect that. It seems like your not getting much, but well maybe you should invest in a widescreen! Soooooo good for watching sport on!! Who cares what ground it's on then!